As Illinois lawmakers face the end of the fiscal year this week, area mayors are weighing in on the a budget impasse that could cause cash to stop flowing to local 911 centers, public health facilities and local schools if the state enters a second year without a budget.

Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said he was asked by Gov. Bruce Rauner's office to sign onto a letter supporting the stopgap budget, but he chose not to do so.

"I appreciate the effort that went into the proposal, but it remains a Band-Aid," Kaptain said.

Rauner on Tuesday unveiled a revamped stopgap budget proposal aimed at ensuring that schools open on time and most state government operations stay afloat until the end of the year, but it does not contain a boost in funding for Chicago Public Schools sought by Democratic leaders.

The proposals stake out the Republican governor's position a day before state lawmakers return to the Capitol. The flurry of ideas comes as a gridlocked state government is poised to enter a second year without a full budget on Friday.

Fox Valley social service agencies, including homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and mental health clinics, have cut staff, reduced services and used reserves to keep their doors open to deal with the state budget impasse.

In Naperville, Mayor Steve Chirico signed the letter and said he supports the plan because it allows schools to open next year and gives all parties more time to discuss the larger budget.

"It's not a long-term solution. It's a bridge to a long-term solution," Chirico said. "Let's get the kids off the bargaining table."

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner earlier joined 16 other Illinois mayors by signing a letter with a different message, calling on Rauner for better state funding for education. The group, which also included Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, said they represent communities with children who are penalized by the state's current funding system. Others who signed it include Mayor Rod Craig of Hanover Park and Village President Stephan K. Pickett of Sleepy Hollow.

Chirico said a stopgap budget would help Naperville and other cities that depend on the state to pass through local governments' allotments of the state income tax. Without a budget, Chirico said, that money can't be distributed.

"We need to do something so we have immediate funding to keep up in general," Chirico said.

Chirico said he also hopes to see road construction and social services continue. Other mayors who signed the letter supporting the governor's stopgap budget include Kevin Burns of Geneva, Gary Golinski of Yorkville, Dale Berman of North Aurora and Ray Rogina of St. Charles, according to a news release from Rauner's office.

A shutdown could affect paving, widening and interchange work across the Fox Valley and throughout the Chicago area during what is often...

(Sarah Freishtat, Mike Danahey, Bill Bird and Gloria Casas)

However, Kaptain said the plan falls short in meeting pressing needs.

"It doesn't seem to address funding all the human services agencies with which the state has had contracts, and it doesn't do anything to address the millions the state still owes on back contracts," he said.

Of particular concern to the Elgin mayor are Monetary Award Program grants, which help fund higher education.

Elgin has been working for years with its business and education communities to build a local workforce educated and with the skills needed to find the jobs found in today's economy, Kaptain said. The MAP grants help with the effort, making more people from low-income households able to afford higher education, he said.

"I am not sure the mayor of Naperville sees that," Kaptain said.

Not approving a new spending plan by the start of the new fiscal year on Friday means schools won't know whether they'll stay open through the academic year, the state could lose billions in federal dollars for programs, and vendors that have provided services without payments could file more lawsuits.

Entering a second fiscal year without a budget is unprecedented, so officials will have no roadmap for all the harmful situations Illinois could face.

Two of Evanston's major capital projects this summer, including a decades-in-the-making intersection improvement, are being brought to a temporary halt as a result of the continuing budget stalemate in Springfield, Evanston City Council members were told Monday night.

Evanston officials received...

Two of Evanston's major capital projects this summer, including a decades-in-the-making intersection improvement, are being brought to a temporary halt as a result of the continuing budget stalemate in Springfield, Evanston City Council members were told Monday night.

Evanston officials received...

(Bob Seidenberg)

"We are so cash-strapped these days, we need every dollar we have going to pay the critical services to the state, not in legal fees," said Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger.

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in Springfield Wednesday to discuss a Democratic-backed plan to fund schools for another year and a partial budget that would get the state to January, but Rauner has already said he disagrees with key pieces of their plan.

A full-year state budget will remain elusive because Rauner, a businessman elected in 2014, and Democratic leaders who have long controlled the General Assembly are at odds over the governor's demands for business-friendly, union-weakening laws as a condition for agreeing to a spending plan that would include a tax hike.

Education funding is the only portion of the budget for the current year that Rauner approved, so schools have largely been spared the consequences of the impasse. But if lawmakers and the governor fail to approve a new education budget soon, schools will be at risk of closing or will have to use rainy day funds to open. Not every district will have enough money reserves to open, and even the ones that do may not be able to operate for a full year.

"Frankly, this may be the sort of crisis that does force the issue (to a resolution)," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Illinois typically sends the first payment to schools on Aug. 10, according to Munger. But she said there must be a budget at least a few days before then to make the payments on time.

Lawmakers and the governor agreed in December to release $3.1 billion in one-time funds for local governments that rely on the state for funding services such as 911 call centers and domestic violence shelters. But come Friday those payments will stop.

Without a budget, the state will be losing out on $5.4 billion in federal pass-through dollars for public health services, cancer screenings, and home-delivered meals for seniors, according to the comptroller's office. The state will only get that money if lawmakers authorize spending.

Much of the spending for the current year has been on autopilot because of court orders for critical services such as Medicaid payments and state workers' salaries. While that's expected to continue, there's some spending lawmakers approved during the budget standoff that will have to be reauthorized.

If there's no spending authority, Munger said, the only recourse for social service agencies, utilities and other state vendors awaiting payment will be to sue the state. The state already faces one lawsuit demanding the immediate payment of $130 million to 82 service providers, including one run by Diana Rauner, the governor's wife.

Last week the United Way of Illinois released a survey of 429 agencies that have contracts with the state that showed nearly two-thirds have had to cut programs because they haven't been paid, affecting nearly 1 million people. These agencies provide a range of services, including mental health treatment, childhood education and substance abuse help.

If they go another six months without funding, more than half of the agencies say they'll have to stop serving clients.

The status of cash-strapped public colleges and universities may depend on how fast they spent last year's emergency funds. The schools received short-term funding when Rauner and legislators approved $600 million in April. That included nearly $170 million in tuition grants for low-income students. But that money was only a fraction of the normal higher education budget and it was meant as a lifeline for colleges and universities to make it to the fall.

While the stopgap budget mentions passing through motor fuel tax (MFT) funding to municipalities as before, it makes no mention of revenue from gambling, Kaptain said.

Kaptain also is concerned that the stopgap only works by not paying back some loans the state owes.

"They're still robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.

Chirico liked the idea of keeping funding at last year's level until a bigger solution is found, although he bemoaned the partisanship that seems to have paralyzed Springfield.

"I would hope people could put politics aside. Let's put our state first here," Chirico said.